A series of talks and workshops about change and making it happen

The climate is changing faster than we are, but a growing number of people around the world are ready and willing to change.

Inspired by Swedish Activist Greta Thunberg, school climate strikes have spread around the globe, the Extinction Rebellion movement has captured the public imagination, inspiring local councils and governments to declare a climate emergency.

As momentum for rapid transition in response to ecological and social challenges grows, this series of talks and workshops, brought to you by Transition Town Totnes,Schumacher College and the Dartington Hall Trust, and supported by Devon County Council, will provide the opportunity to explore how we can come together to make a transition that meets the needs of people and the planet, locally and globally.

Drawing on a range of visiting tutors from Schumacher College, the series takes a holistic approach to rapid change - exploring ideas, models and solutions around values, economics, food, art, politics, culture and more - and aims to equip you with fresh skills, inspiration and approaches to come together and make change happen where we are.

Each event will be participatory, opening with a short talk and Q&A with our guest speaker who will introduce the topic for the evening and offer their perspective. Together we’ll then explore how we can take action in our communities, work lives and places by applying ideas, principles and approaches from what we’ve heard. After each event, you’re invited to continue the conversation over a drink in a local pub.

These events are for everyone who wants to create a socially and ecologically fairer world. Listen, take part, share your ideas and take action.

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Programme

Changing Climate at Work: How to Talk about the Climate Crisis at Work and Make Change Happen
with Robin Webster, Climate Outreach22nd October 2019, 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Totnes United Free Church, Fore Street

Suddenly it seems as though everyone is talking about climate change. Talk isn’t enough, of course, but how we talk about climate change can fundamentally transform the possibility of action. This workshop, with climate communications specialist Robin Webster from Climate Outreach, will equip you with tools, techniques and understanding to bring conversations about climate change into your workplace in ways that resonate with people’s values and inspire transformation.

Booking essential. £8 full price/£5 low-waged. There are a limited number of fully subsidised tickets for this event - please email info@transitiontowntotnes.org for information.

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Changing Culture: How Culture Can Catalyse a Values Revolution
with Tom Crompton, Common Cause Foundation26th November 2019, 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Totnes United Free Church, Fore Street

We tend to lose hope in the potential for change because we don’t believe other people care. Groundbreaking research by the Common Cause Foundation found that most people actually care deeply about one another and the world around them, often valuing equality, compassion and kindness highly. This workshop with co-founder of the Common Cause Foundation, Tom Crompton, will show you appealing to people’s self interest can undermine change and how everyday encounters can bring the kindness, compassion and care needed for rapid transition out in the open.

Booking opens one month prior to the event.

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Changing Finance: Banking for a Just Transition - Creating a Community Bank for the South West
with Tony Greenham, South West Mutual30th January 2020, 7.30pm to 9.30pm, Methodist Church, Totnes

“This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it weren’t happy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Money is not the problem. Where we have failed is in the right use of money. And people, even bankers, don’t set out to trash the planet and their own communities when they arrive at work in the morning. And yet, in general, global banking institutions have funded ecological destruction, caused economic injustice and done little to preserve social fabric.

So what kind of new institutions do we need to ensure that money flows through our communities to where it’s needed to regenerate our local economies and ecological systems, enhance wellbeing and promote social justice? Tony Greenham, co-founder of South West Mutual, will explain how and why local mutual mission-led banking can change the world for good.

Booking opens one month prior to the event.

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Changing Economics: Action Planning for Living in the Doughnut
with Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics31st March 2020, 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Totnes United Free Church, Fore Street

We know that we need to transform the way we live if we are to prevent climate and ecological breakdown, but we need to make sure that the transformation is socially just. This workshop with renegade economist and author of Doughnut Economics, Kate Raworth, will explore planetary limits and social foundations and kick start action planning for your community that will help catalyse the transition to an ecologically sustainable, and socially just world. Get it right, and there might still be time to learn to live in the doughnut.

Booking opens one month prior to the event.

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More talks and workshops coming up, including:

Changing Politics: How we can come together to transform politics where we are Guest Speaker: Laura Roth, Barcelona en Comu

Art, Transition and Adaptation at a time of Climate and Ecological Emergency Guest Speaker and workshop facilitator: Ruth Ben Tovim, Culture Declares Emergency

Details to come!

]]>News from Incredible Ediblehttps://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/2019/09/news-from-incredible-edible/
Wed, 04 Sep 2019 16:54:37 +0000https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/?p=22033This summer's warmth and sunshine has blessed the small community gardens of TTT Incredible Edible, with an abundance of herbs, vegetables, fruit and edible flowers, as well as many happy picnics and gardening sessions for the volunteers.

Small but faithful groups of folk continue to tend the Rockery, Steamer quay planters and Rowing Club beds, as well as Fernbank. Occasionally travellers from other parts of the world join us to lend a hand.

Last weekend we enjoyed the first harvesting session at the Follaton arboretum and Town cemetery, with lots of new volunteers, recently moved to Totnes to join in. We picked up masses of windfall apples, and took away a good harvest from a loaded damson tree, leaving much fruit to be enjoyed by those visiting the orchards in that part of town over the next few weeks.

Join us for a stimulating evening with two of the leading thinkers in the commons movement, Silke Helfrich and David Bollier, as they discuss the ideas in their new book, ‘Free, Fair and Alive – the insurgent power of the commons.’ (New Society Publishers)

“Free, Fair and Alive is a penetrating cultural critique, table-pounding political treatise, and practical playbook for “commoning”—free, self-organizing systems ranging from alternative currencies to open-source everything. It presents a bold and compelling alternative to the dead-end, predatory market-state system.”

Can the commons provide a model for a new economics in these times of climate emergency? Can people in communities, in Devon and beyond, work together for common good? How could such a process emerge amidst the current chaos of Brexit, Extinction Rebellion, and political polarization?

These questions and more will form part of the discussion with Silke and David. Please join us!

Join us for a fun and interactive introduction to the Transition movement. This tour will visit some of the environmental, social and economic projects associated and partnered with Transition Town Totnes, to give you an insight into how communities can work together to tackle some of our biggest challenges from climate change and food security, to energy shortages and creating strong local economies

Can’t do the above dates, or looking for something more bespoke?: If you can get a group together, contact us to discuss how we can do a tour especially for you. Our friends at Future Bound offer lots of opportunities to learn more about resilient communities and sustainability in action, working with schools, universities and visitors to Totnes. Find out more on their website

Cost: A voluntary donation is requested and any surplus after expenses goes towards the overheads of Transition Town Totnes, a registered charity. We suggest £20 for visitors and £10 for locals, but please pay what you can or what you think it is worth - it's up to you. And we really mean that - even if it is nothing! The most important thing is that you come.

Where: Market Square on Totnes High Street, between the tree and the ramp to the Civic Hall. We begin with introductions and then we will walk around town, stopping at various places of interest for a chat.

Access: Please advise in advance of any mobility issues so we can make arrangements as necessary. Please note, the TTT offices do not have disabled access and the afternoon will involve plenty of time walking around town

"The Transition tour ... was extremely interesting and a great way to learn how people are putting ideas into practice in the field of sustainability. It complemented our week's activities at Schumacher very well, taking us into the 'real' world and seeing community-level action."

Masters student, Ashridge Business School

]]>August update from Transition Homeshttps://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/2019/08/august-update-from-transition-homes/
Wed, 14 Aug 2019 10:28:54 +0000https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/?p=21994So the last couple of months have been filled with fascinating tasks like appointing solicitors and arranging updated valuations for the land and planned homes at Clay Park and reading lengthy funding “heads of terms” documents.

Our newly appointed contractors have been doing a detailed costing for us so the next steps there will be working some more with them looking at our budget to see what we can easily cut back on or things that could be delivered differently to save a few pounds.

As well as working on cost-cutting we’ve been going through the application process with CAF Venturesome social investment charity to raise funds for the development in collaboration Triodos Bank.
We have now received the good news that CAF has approved £400k of investment.

Meanwhile more good news on the planning front!

We’ve been waiting some time for a decision on our detailed planning application for the community building and we have just had through the news that it has been approved. So thanks to all of you who sent in letters of support, and all the input that went into developing the plans via our events and community consultation.

The building will provide so many functions and bring people together - both residents of Clay Park, and the local community. It's a timber-framed building with straw bale insulated walls on three sides, and a cob south-facing wall. This south wall will be made with a newly developed highly-insulating cob mix which also provides a thermal mass store for the passive solar heat created by glazing along the front of the community building. We plan to work in collaboration with our contractor and the CobBauge Project at the University of Plymouth who will monitor and collect data for their research into this method of cob building. We're also looking at how to facilitate opportunities for the community to get involved in building it... watch this space.

Below shows the drawings that the South Hams planning department have approved. The building will include the communal laundry space for the whole site, visitors accommodation, a large kitchen /dining room and an office for the CLT to work from as well as a mezzanine floor for other events, meetings and general community use.

The deadline for entry is mid-October 2019 so don’t miss this unique opportunity to take part in our trail. The trail is open to all art forms but must be linked to the theme of WATER, be it Climate Change, Pollution, Clear Beautiful Water or whatever else you can think of

]]>Incredible Edible Harvest and Tree Care- Sun 1st Septhttps://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/2019/08/incredible-edible-harvest-and-tree-care-1st-sept/
Wed, 14 Aug 2019 09:06:17 +0000https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/?p=21986We are coming up to the bountiful time of harvesting from the special fruit and nut trees which Transition Town Totnes's Incredible Edible group has planted and tended over many years. We hope that you are able to come along to pick some fruit and give care to the trees for their wintertime.

We are meeting on Sunday 1st September from 2 p.m to 4 p.m. in Follaton Arboretum. Do come along for all, or any part of, this time. Children and friends are welcome too. We will meet at 2 p.m. by the gate leading to the path up to the gazebo, or you will see if you come later as you walk up the path. The gate is from the first car park to Follaton House as you leave Totnes along the Plymouth Road.

Wear suitable clothing and, if you have them, please bring gardening gloves, a trowel and secateurs. We have some to share too.

In this guest post, Wendy from Incredible Edible describes her experiences at the project's newest growing site- Fernbank. Fernbank Community Garden can be found at the bottom of Lower Collins Road in Totnes.

Incredible Edible is always on the lookout for new volunteers. Check our events page to see when the next Incredible Edible gardening session is being held. If you'd like to volunteer you can simply turn up to a volunteer session or email incred@transitiontowntotnes.org for more info.

" I had the rare delight of spending a couple of hours by myself on Fernbank on a warm sunny Saturday.

The bank has become a shaggy pelt of plants, wild and semi-cultivated, with bees and butterflies hovering and darting, relishing the rich mix of grasses, herbs, fruit and flowers that now flourish here.

Only 4 years ago, a local resident, single-handed, cleared this bank of its coating of brambles spilling out across the pavement and smothering any competition.

Once cleared, the possibilities of a community garden of the kind appearing here and there in Totnes in preceding years, woke the imagination of two visiting French landscape-gardening students, Titouan and Coppelia. Their enthusiasm and the support of some of us locals gave birth to Fernbank garden.

A towering plane tree dominates one end of the bank, casting its broad shade, under which ferns, primroses, King Solomon’s seal, jack-by-the-hedge, and numerous other shade-loving plants mix freely. Further down, the bank sports thyme and oregano, wild strawberries, mints of many kinds, feverfew and daylilies, sage and sumach, and splashes of colourful calendula, marguerites, purple loosestrife. A fig tree tops the bank, along with a few currant and gooseberry bushes.

This is no tidy municipal planting but a tribute to the care, not too much, of a few volunteers who turn up from time to time, to give a touch of human intervention to this diverse patch of semi-wildness, enjoying each other’s company and creating a haven for insects to enjoy, and enhance the foraging possibilities for others.

Come and join us one day, if you like. We are usually there on the third Saturday of most months, in the morning.

Join us for a fun and interactive introduction to the Transition movement. This tour will visit some of the environmental, social and economic projects associated and partnered with Transition Town Totnes, to give you an insight into how communities can work together to tackle some of our biggest challenges from climate change and food security, to energy shortages and creating strong local economies

Who for? For locals and visitors. (For private tours and group visits, click here)

When? Fridays from April to October between 3pm and 6.30pm (unless otherwise stated). The remaining dates for the 2019 tours are:

Friday 23rd August

Friday 6th September

Friday 27th September

Friday 25th October

Can’t do the above dates, or looking for something more bespoke?: If you can get a group together, contact us to discuss how we can do a tour especially for you. Our friends at Future Bound offer lots of opportunities to learn more about resilient communities and sustainability in action, working with schools, universities and visitors to Totnes. Find out more on their website

Cost: A voluntary donation is requested and any surplus after expenses goes towards the overheads of Transition Town Totnes, a registered charity. We suggest £20 for visitors and £10 for locals, but please pay what you can or what you think it is worth - it's up to you. And we really mean that - even if it is nothing! The most important thing is that you come.

Where: Market Square on Totnes High Street, between the tree and the ramp to the Civic Hall. We begin with introductions and then we will walk around town, stopping at various places of interest for a chat.

Access: Please advise in advance of any mobility issues so we can make arrangements as necessary. Please note, the TTT offices do not have disabled access and the afternoon will involve plenty of time walking around town

"The Transition tour ... was extremely interesting and a great way to learn how people are putting ideas into practice in the field of sustainability. It complemented our week's activities at Schumacher very well, taking us into the 'real' world and seeing community-level action."

Masters student, Ashridge Business School

]]>FULLY BOOKED: Climate Change Communication Workshop- 24th Julyhttps://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/2019/07/climate-change-communication-workshop-24th-july/
Tue, 02 Jul 2019 12:42:12 +0000https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/?p=21852**Please note, this event is now fully booked and unfortunately we cannot allow further people to join due to capacity. We will be running a similar event in September so if you've missed out this time please join our mailing list for further info**

How to communicate about climate change in your daily life

Join us for an interactive talk and workshop with Robin Webster, Senior Climate Change Engagement Strategist at Climate Outreach. We’ll explore how to have conversations about climate change in daily life - with colleagues, friends, family or in your local community - in ways that resonate with people’s values, sense of identity and worldview.

There are limited spaces in the workshop. To book please visit the Eventbriteevent page

Climate Outreach is a team of social scientists and communication specialists working to widen and deepen public engagement with climate change by producing world-leading advice and practical tools for engagement. They specialise in communicating climate change in ways that are inclusive and people-focused, appealing to common values and goals to unite us in a shared mission to help people understand climate change in their own voice.

The event is being organised by Transition Town Totnes, Totnes Town Council, Totnes & Area Extinction Rebellion, and Encounters Arts.